Gulf War Illness: A Randomized Controlled Trial Combining Mindfulness Meditation and Auricular Acupuncture.
Charity B Breneman, Matthew J Reinhard, Nathaniel Allen, Anas Belouali, Timothy Chun, Lucas Crock, Alaine D Duncan, Mary Ann Dutton
Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health 2023 DOI: 10.1177/27536130231171854 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 149 |
| Population | Veterans with Gulf War Illness |
| Interventions | Mindfulness meditation Auricular acupuncture |
| Duration | 8-week intervention, 3-month follow-up |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Acupuncture Gulf war illness Mindfulness meditation Randomized controlled trial Veterans |
| Citations | 5 |
| Registration | NCT02180243 |
| Key findings | Combining mindfulness meditation and auricular acupuncture improved mental-health functioning, fatigue, depression, and overall symptom severity in veterans with GWI compared to health education alone. |
Abstract
Many Gulf War (GW) Veterans report chronic symptoms including pain, fatigue, and cognitive impairment, commonly defined as Gulf War Illness (GWI). Complementary and integrative health (CIH) therapies may potentially improve multiple symptoms of GWI. To examine the effectiveness of combining 2 commonly available CIH therapies, mindfulness meditation and auricular acupuncture, in improving health-related functioning and multiple symptom domains of GWI (e.g., pain, fatigue). This study was a randomized controlled trial in which Veterans with GWI were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (n = 75), wherein they received 2 distinct CIH therapies - mindfulness meditation and auricular acupuncture, or the active control group, wherein they received a GW Health Education (GWHE) program (n = 74), each lasting 8 weeks. Self-report health measures were assessed at baseline, endpoint, and 3 month follow-up. In the intention-to-treat analyses, there were significant between-group differences for mental-health related functioning, fatigue, depression symptoms, and Kansas total severity scores for symptoms in which the CIH group had improved scores for these outcomes at endpoint compared to the GWHE group (all P ≤ .05). The CIH group also had significant reductions in pain interference at endpoint and follow-up compared to baseline (estimated marginal mean difference: -2.52 and -2.22, respectively; all P = .01), whereas no significant changes were observed in the GWHE group. For pain characteristics, the GWHE group had a worsening of pain at endpoint compared to baseline (estimated marginal mean difference: +2.83; P = .01), while no change was observed in the CIH group. Findings suggest a possible beneficial effect of combining 2 CIH therapies, mindfulness meditation and auricular acupuncture, in reducing overall symptom severity and individual symptom domains of fatigue, musculoskeletal, and mood/cognition in Veterans with GWI. Clinical Trials identifier NCT02180243.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation Healthy employees in a work environment | 2003 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 41 |
| Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Recovered recurrently depressed patients | 2000 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 145 |
| Open hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources. Working adults | 2008 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 139 |
| Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation Undergraduate Chinese students | 2007 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 40 |
| Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: Replication and Exploration of Differential Relapse Prevention Effects. Recovered recurrently depressed patients | 2004 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 73 |
Citations in the library
Cites 3
- How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective Perspectives on Psychological Science October 14, 2011
- Differential efficacy between cognitive-behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based therapies for chronic pain: Systematic review International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology October 23, 2020
- Mindfulness-based therapies in the treatment of somatization disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One 2013